Cappucino Cheesecake Bars

For all you coffee lovers out there -- here's a creamy cheesecake bar with coffee flavor baked into the crust and the cheesecake body. Mello it out just a bit with a dollop of whipped cream, this is sure to please!

Cappuccino Cheesecake Bars

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Butter an 11 x 7 inch pan

Crust
9 whole graham crackers ground up (1-1/2 cups crumbs)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) chilled/cubed
1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
Grind the graham crackers in a food processor. Add the butter, sugar and espresso powder. Pulse until the crumbs are uniformly moist. Then remove 1/2 cup of the graham cracker mixture and put aside in a pie dish. Press the remaining mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust and the separated crumbs in the pie dish for 10 minutes until golden.

Cool 10 minutes. Maintain the oven temperature.

Filling
5 teaspoons of espresso powder
1 tablespoon of cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 8 ounce packages of cream cheese - room temperature.
2/3 cup of sugar
1 large egg

Stir 5 teaspoons espresso powder with 1 tablespoon of cream and 1 teaspoon of vanilla in a small bowl until coffee dissolves.
Beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Add 2/3 cup of sugar and beat to blend. Beat in coffee mixture, and then the egg.

Spread filling evenly over crust in the metal baking pan. Bake until set: 20-25 minutes. Chill uncovered until cold and firm, for at least 2 hours.

Topping (optional)
Beat 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until firm peaks form. Cut cheesecake bars and transfer bars to a platter Put a dollop of whipped cream atop each bar and sprinkle with the crisp crumb mixture from the pie dish. Another option is chocolate curls or chocolate shavings


Suggestion for cutting the bars: Cut cheesecake lengthwise into 3 strips. Cut each strip into 6 bars.

Adapted from bon appetit October 2010 issue.


"Everything I eat has been proved by some doctor or other to be a deadly poison, and everything I don't eat has been proved to be indispensable for life. But I go marching on." - George Bernard Shaw